Big Gus takes on his weightiest mission yet GUS WORLAND: MARATHON MAN

MEDIA RELEASE: Wednesday October 8, 2014

Premieres Thursday November 6 at 7.30pm on A&EPromo Video
In less than a month, Gus Worland will attempt to complete the largest race on earth – the New York Marathon. His inspirational, and often hilarious, journey to get there can be seen in the new doco-reality series GUS WORLAND: MARATHON MAN, premiering Thursday, November 6 at 7.30pm AEDT on Foxtel’s A&E channel.

GUS WORLAND: MARATHON MAN is a six-part series that will follow the transformation of radio host and media identity Gus Worland from an overweight, unhealthy couch potato to a lean, mean marathon man after he accepts a life-changing challenge from his best mate, Hugh Jackman.

A co-host on Triple M Sydney’s Breakfast radio show, Gus claims to be the world’s biggest sports fan. What’s for certain is he’s NO sportsman. In fact, Gus is hauling around a massive 140 kilos that is fast becoming a serious health hazard and jeopardising his future with his wife and three children.

In contrast, his best friend since kindergarten – movie star Hugh Jackman – is a real-life superhero whose six-pack is capable of rendering most women speechless. Worried about Gus’s health, Hugh sets him a weighty mission: to race the 42.195km TCS New York City Marathon on Sunday, November 2, and prove to everyday Australians that they can do it too.

Viewers will follow Gus as he changes his eating habits and pounds the pavement in his bid to shed at least 40kgs in six months. Keeping him on the straight and narrow is fitness coach and nutritionist Brad Pamp, who will change the way Gus eats, sleeps and lives, and will mentor him every step of the way.

Gus will also be egged on by his two colleagues at Triple M, ex-NRL legends Matty Johns and Mark Geyer, who will set each week’s main mission to get him physically ready – from spending time on a real Aussie farm to the Outback Half-Marathon to climbing Australia’s tallest mountain in the middle of winter.

There will be an additional weekly challenge to get him mentally prepared for the task ahead: from colonic irrigation to a full body wax, Bikram yoga and pole dancing – Gus soon learns where there’s no pain, there’s no gain.

As Gus and his family set off for New York, the stakes are huge. Gus is risking reputation and ridicule, but the rewards are even bigger – health, happiness, family bliss and the thrill of overcoming mission impossible.

Will his hunger to succeed override his hankering for Maccas? Will his desire to win supersede his desire for snacks, lollies and smokes? And will Hugh Jackman get his old mate to become a new slim-line self?

GUS WORLAND: MARATHON MAN is produced by Mint Pictures exclusively for Foxtel, and will air on A&E from Thursday November 6 at 7.30pm.